The One Who Got Away

Wondering plus subscribers can binge all six episodes of Guru ad-free. Join Wondering Plus in the Wondering app or an Apple Podcasts. After finishing the series, I couldn't stop thinking about one person. No, not Cat. Though I did think about her a lot. I found myself thinking about a young woman who became ennemored by Cat. Someone who got close to her. Very close. The woman's name is Leticia. Leticia Tupinamba. The other Leticia who came close to joining Cat in that big house in Texas. We didn't hear about her in the podcast, but she almost became one of Cat's victims. So I reached out to her. She was living in New York City, so she joined me from a studio in Brooklyn. And what she told me gave me more insight into Cat's appeal. It doesn't matter what kind of problems you have, she wouldn't give you this solution. She would solve your problems. I'm Shikofeliti, and this is a bonus episode of Don't Cross Cat. My name is Shikofeliti, and I'm a real star of the show. I'm a real star of the show, so don't cross the line. Hi, Leticia. Thank you so much for being here. It's nice to see you again. Nice to see you again. Thank you. Just to clarify, for the listeners, we met twice in New York City. Is that right? Yes, that's correct. Let's start from the beginning if that's okay. Can you walk me through the day you found out who Cat was when you first saw her on the internet? Yeah, the first time I saw her, it was through her main page on Instagram. Like you, many people met Cat through memes. So did I. I mean, there were memes like pictures of her looking the shovel and looking tired and saying, I have ever kissed in the rain. So people thought Cat Taurus was a shutter stock model. Many of us did not know she was a real person, right? Exactly. Yeah. And it was just like, is that just photos of her doing like some kind of expressions like crying or smile or being upset or sometimes she was lying on the floor? And that jokes, right? So those pictures covered with that jokes. Yeah. And it was funny. I love those kind of memes. And then when I found out she actually was a true person, I was like, "Okay, she's real." Interesting. She's a model. Okay, nice. And she's a life coach that is interesting. And what were the first posts you came across online? What were the first pictures or videos you saw of the life coach Cat Taurus, not the meme Cat Taurus? At the point, she was posting nice photos. It was kind of rental photos, but she was writing texts. She was putting a nice message to people. She was actually taking them out of self-help books. Those were snippets, but little yes, she would take them from books and translate to Portuguese. We came to find out. It's really interesting that you got in touch with her. And it wasn't the image that drawn you. It was the writings. Yes. When did you start exchanging messages with her? Because first you're just following the profile, right? And then when do you start writing her and when she writes back? It was when in 19. So you had been following her for about a year, right? Yeah, before getting in touch with her, yes. And what made you decide to get in touch with her? She was selling her consultations. It doesn't matter what kind of problems you have. She would give you the solution. If she's really good, as she's saying, I want to know. And what were your problems at that time? How was your life when you started following cataracts? It was problems, of course, but it wasn't like, oh my god, I'm going to die or whatever. I started to have a relationship. No mom, that to give me like good advice around. So I was getting advice from her. And what were the problems you were facing with your relationship, with your back-to-end boyfriend? I was his first girlfriend and he was my first boyfriend. So we were both young and immature and you didn't know how to handle with a relationship. What was the conversation like with that toress? It wasn't nothing crazy. You know, of course, she was using things that work from psychology, science. And then you were seeing like that it actually works. And you were giving her the credits for that. I was talking to her and she was selling me to behave in a certain way. But actually, the behavior was creating more problems. And what would she tell you to behave like? What was the type of girlfriend she would advise you to be? I remember she telling me in kind of toxic during that time when I started to talk to her. We were breaking up and coming back again, breaking up and coming back again like several times. And they were going back to her and they were like, "I want to come back, I need to come back." And she was like, "Okay, we're going to bring him back." And actually, she was bringing him back. So they were like, "How she cat me?" You know, like, "Okay, but he's coming back so she must be right." She was so good and read that between the lines, what they were telling her, and then she was manipulated me. And at some point, I think she was creating the insecure in myself. She advised you to be insecure and to be sort of jealous of him. Is that right? Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then we're starting to be toxic to each other. And how did this relationship end? Awful. If I recall right, you were also having troubles with the college you were going to, right? I had existential crisis above what I was studying in Brazil, because I was studying petroleum engineering. I was in the middle of the program already. And I was like, "Okay, I'm not happy at all with that. I'm not sure if I want to do that for the rest of my life." We started to talk about that during our consultations. And she told me that I shouldn't be studying engineering at all. I should have worked with my beauty or be an influencer on Instagram. She said that once, "Yeah, you don't fit for being an engineer. Engineers, there are all ugly, just ugly people. You were pretty. You should do something else." And you were studying at that really, really good school. How did you feel when she said that to you? And did you want to be an influencer? How did that sound to you? I'm not going to lie. It sounds like, "Okay, this is nice. Just being an influencer, be at home, taking pictures." But I was like, "Okay, I'm interested, but I still think I need my diploma." But she was like, "Now, we're the only graduation." I was like, "Maybe trying to convince myself." I don't need that. But I don't know if I can live with the fact that I don't have. How much would you pay for a session with her, for a consultation with her, back in the day? It was $100. I don't remember if I paid more than that, 150 maybe. And how many times a week would you meet her? No more than once a week, maybe two or three a month, but no more than that, because it was like a hundred. For Brazilian currencies is high, and now it's even worse. It's so much, it's half of a monthly minimum wage in Brazil, $100. Yeah. The monthly minimum wage in Brazil currently is $200, about $200, a little bit more than that. But it's a lot of money, especially if you're a student like yourself living in a new city, 2,000 miles away from your family. How did you get this money? My parents. Because at that time, I wasn't working. I was full-time at college. And then she bring in the idea to come to the US. And I was like, "Okay, sounds good. I can go to the US and I can study English." And how would you make a living? Did she offer you a job? Did she say what you would do for work? No. First, she told me what I should do. She worked out on a plan. And she was like, "You can come to the US. You can stay in New York. that is a city in New Jersey is close to New York. they have to train from New York to New York and you can go to New York to date in the guys. And when did you decide you were going to the United States? It was the beginning of 2021. Everything worked out perfectly. I got the improvement to come. And then she quickly answered me back and telling me that she and her assistant would like to talk to me. And I thought it would have been for a consultation and I was like, I don't have money at all. Sorry. But then she told me that would have been for free. We made a FaceTime call like she invited me to go to Texas and stay with her. And what was she offering? Did she tell you something like, you can live in my house in the end there? What was the proposition there? She was telling me that I could stay with her. Her husband was working on and like building like a village to do an RB and B. And they would like be to be part of the project. And then I would have worked for her. And I was like, okay, but like it would be her assistant, whatever. Then she bring out, do you have her problems in being a sugar baby? And I was like, what? And then she asked, yeah, because the girls here, they made a lot of money being a sugar baby. They made like one thousand a day just talking to guys and hanging out with them, nothing else. And she was like, yeah, then they would come here. We would live with me. We wouldn't pay for their accommodation. We would pay for food, for rent. And the home money I should give to her, should invest the money in the village to their Airbnb. I was like, okay, I'm going to work for you. I'm going to work for you. But I don't want to be a man like you. Work for you in the village is very important and I will do the same thing for you. I will do the same thing for you. And then I would like to work for you. I will work for you. I'm Razor Jaffrey. And in the new season of The Spy Who, we tell the story of Dr. AQ Khan, The Spy who sold nuclear secrets to Iran. He was the scientist spy who stole nuclear technology from the Netherlands and used them to give Pakistan a bomb. But he didn't stop there. He became a black market atomic salesman, a fix it man for rogue states seeking nuclear weapons, including Iran, Libya and North Korea. And that left the CIA and MI6 in a race against time to put him out of business. Before the world's most wayward regimes get hold of the world's most destructive weapons. Follow The Spy Who Now, wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also listen to the full season of The Spy Who sold nuclear secrets to Iran. Early and that free, unordable. I'm Shikofeliti and this is a bonus episode of Don't Cross Cat. Let's get back to my conversation with Laticia Tupinamba. Before the break, cat had told Laticia that once she moved to Texas, she would work as a sugar baby and give all her earnings to cat. I got so in shock what she was telling me. She's so manipulative. I couldn't even answer her back. She didn't give me the chance to say yes or no because the way she was telling me it wasn't the way I was already agreeing with her everything she was saying. I've the point I was how I'm going to get the fuck out of here because she sounds so crazy right now. I've been seeing her cursing people on internet and putting spells and curse on people and I got a scarab with that. I was like, I don't want to be exposed by her on her social media and then have a lot of her followers coming back to me throwing their hate on me. I was like, okay, I just fall on the floor and wait for the perfect moment to get out of this situation. You were just afraid of what she could do to you if you said no to her? Yeah. Prior to coming to the US, you actually met Laticia for an alien bath. Is that so? Can you describe what happened there? Yes. During that conversation with her and Laticia, her assistants, she told me, yes, so we're going to come here to my house and in Texas right away, like, show I want to you meeting my assistant in Brazil because I want you to meet her. So she can do that for you and you can get here with your energy open to money. So everything's going to work out perfectly. And then she came to São Paulo. We made up to do the bath. We should craft. The alien bath. Yeah. The witchcraft alien bath. Yes. And then I grabbed her at the station and then we went to a motel. So we got one of those that had the bath to us putting the lights low and put it music and then put it the water in the bath. And then she was prepared the herbs and the leaves to put it in the bath. And did you feel anything while you were soaking in the alien bath? No, really. She was just telling me to manifest and think about things like imagine you over there in the US and bringing this home money home. Soon after that alien bath a couple weeks after you moved from Brazil to the US. Yes. Can you describe how was that move and what happened when you got there? By the time I was still in touch with her assistant in Cadi was like freaking out she was having one of her mental crisis. And then when I got in here in the US I think just one week later she touched me telling me that she was seen by energy and the voice and was also telling her I wasn't prepared to go to Texas stay with her. I should stay where I was here in New York. And they would have been there for me whatever I need help and that I should have paid for the best we should craft. It was $7,000. She kind of let you go but she wanted to charge you $7,000 for an alien bath. Exactly. And what did you reply? I just did what I've done before just agree with her and then I've never talked to her anymore. I didn't have any kind of interaction with her Instagram account like so like okay I'm not going to do anything right now. So maybe she's going to forget about me because if she's not seeing me she will forget. Why do you think you specifically got away because many other young women weren't able to get away like this area the other Latissia Jamila. I think because first of all she saw like the chance to grab me but I think she give up about it when she saw I would be a problem for her in the future in the way like I wasn't so submissive to her. I think your family support had some sort of role there didn't it you were really close to your parents they were there for you. Yes, yes, that's true as well. I believe that it was one of the reasons. In looking back how did your time with cat impact your personally or psychologically how do you look back at this experience of almost being a victim of human trafficking. I feel grateful and it's high as with say America is a crazy shit but I feel grateful that I didn't go through this and I had my family support. Every time I see something I heard the stories and also I go back to that I think could it be me there and I feel like okay this is crazy but I think now I feel grateful and I want to help, I want to talk about it because people need to be more aware what is going on especially in social media when people pretend they have their life they don't have and they're going to help you and actually they don't want to help you at all they just want your money. And why do you think that influencers like cat stories have so much power nowadays? Because they sell a kind of lifestyle that is good but it's not true. They just post the good part of their lives sometimes is everything's fake and we don't know we're not there we're just seeing one picture, one image at that time and you don't know the context behind the photo on the post or that video. Do you still want to be an influencer yourself? No, I want to work with entertainment but not be a influencer. I don't know if I would be able to handle with the famous stuff now when I think about it, I'm not sure if I can handle with that. And now do you still follow influencers on Instagram, TikTok or are you done with that kind of content? No, I follow them but I have a better relationship with that. I use it more just to spend my time like not to follow and follow like everything but it's more like okay, there's good advice. I'll go try it or I will try that technique to work out of to get my hair done or my makeup done. And that if I need something for my life, like advice to my life or helping mental insure issue, I go through my therapist, my psychologist. I real one. You go the right way. You go the right person for the right job. Now I'm with that really good professionals for mental health and also my body with workout, personal training. I'm on track now. I'm happy to hear that and how was the feeling when you found out that had been arrested and later convicted? I got happy. I think that God, she's where she deserves but I hope she gets more time because I don't think eight years is enough for everything she did. Leticia, I appreciate so much your time. Thank you so much for talking to me. I wish you the best life in the US. Thank you. From Andre, this is a bonus episode of Don't Cross Cat. Don't Cross Cat is hosted and reported by me. Producer is Andres Caballero, senior producer is Fernando Ichaferri, associate producers, Argio van Aho Mano Sanchez and Otavi Bonfa. Additional production assistance by Beatriz Trevisa and Elizabeth Lohan Saul Torres, team song by Mariana Romano, mixing by Stephanie LeBone. Sound supervisor is Marcelino Villapondo, project manager is Nancy Trujillo and supervising senior production manager is Jessica Ellis. Managing producers is Heather Baloga, development producer is Olivia Weber, senior development editor is Rachel B. Doye, production services by Futuro Studios. Executive producers for Futuro Studios are Marlon Bishop and Maria Garcia, executive producers for Wondery, are Russell Finch, George Lavender, Marshall Louis and Jen Sarge. Thank you for your time.